Bonnies Jungle Bars Recipes

BONNIE'S FRUIT AND NUT BARS WITH RUM ICING

Steps:

• 1. In a large mixing bowl, mix the dry ingredients together: flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and salt, and add the fruits and nuts. Mix gently to combine.
• 2. In a medium mixing bowl, mix the wet ingredients: mashed bananas, pears, egg whites and molasses, beat with a hand mixer until smooth.
• 3. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. The batter should look like this. It will be thick. Use a 9 X 12 X 2 inch pyrex baking dish. Spray it with butter flavored Pam kitchen spray. Pour the batter evenly in the baking dish.
• 4. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 30 minutes. Test with a toothpick to see if it is done. It will look like this photo.
• 5. Remove from the oven and place on a rack and cover with a sheet of wax paper.
• 6. Rum Icing Recipe: Bring the butter and cream cheese to room temperature while waiting for the cake to cool. With an electric mixer and a small mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, rum extract and the butter until well mixed, and then add the powdered sugar and beat until smooth. If it is too thick, add a half teaspoon of water and mix well. Spoon the mixture into a small plastic ziplock bag, close it and get the air out, and then snip the corner of the bag.
• 7. Pour the icing on the cake and frost.
• 8. This cake can be served with or without icing. We like ours warm with the rum icing on it. The rum icing melts slightly, like the icing on sweet rolls, or if you prefer, cool completely for a firmer icing. This is what it looks like iced.
• 9. Cut into bars and serve with a nice glass of cold milk. This recipe is a good gift for friends and family, accompanied by the recipe.
• 10. This is a closeup of the fruit nut bars. Store in a container with a tight-fitting lid.

BONNIE'S JUNGLE BARS

Steps:

• 1. COOKS NOTE: Assemble all the ingredients before you begin. You will need one large, one medium, and one small mixing bowl. I use a 10 x 15 by 1 inch, well-greased Air Baking Pan. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Bake 35 minutes. Cool on Rack. Cut into 24 squares.
• 2. DRY INGREDIENTS: In the large mixing bowl, add flour, baking powder, salt, and cardamom. Mix well with a whisk.
• 3. WET INGREDIENTS: In the medium mixing bowl, add the 2/3 cup of melted butter, 2 1/4 cups packed brown sugar, 3 beaten eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Mix well with a large wooden spoon.
• 4. NUTS AND CHOCOLATE: In the small mixing bowl, add one cup of chopped walnuts, and one cup of chocolate chips.
• 5. COMBINE the DRY INGREDIENTS in the large bowl with the WET INGREDIENTS in the medium bowl.
• 6. Now add the chocolate chips and the nuts. Stir with a spoon to combine.
• 7. That dough is going to be stiff!
• 8. Dump the stiff dough in the greased baking pan.
• 9. Grease your hands with butter. It will make handling the dough much easier. Press and pat the dough until it covers the surface of the pan evenly in all four corners.
• 10. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 35 minutes at 325 degrees. Cut into 24 bars before they get totally cool.
• 11. For a great dessert, serve warm from the oven with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top!

HEALTHY JUNGLE BARS

Steps:

• Put all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix everything together really well.
• Dump the mixture into a 13 x 9 inch baking pan and smoosh it with a wooden spoon.
• Try to press it down evenly so that it's flat across the pan.
• Cover the pan with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge overnight to allow the flavors to blend.
• Cut it into about 24 squares.

BONNIE'S CHOCOLATE BRITTLE

Steps:

• 1. This candy is so easy to make. It tastes just like a regular candy bar with peanuts and a whole lot cheaper. Be careful, because it is addicting!
• 2. PREPARE THE PAN I use a 9 X 11 pan that used to fit an old toaster, which is the perfect size. Any small pan would do. Just adjust the amount of nuts. You can even make a large pan, but you will have to add more chocolate and nuts, if you do. Line the pan with waxed paper. Make sure the waxed paper covers the lip of the pan.
• 3. PREPARE THE NUTS I used Planter's lightly salted Dry Roasted Peanuts, which worked perfectly in this recipe.
• 4. Pour the Dry Roasted Peanuts into the pan. Use enough peanuts to make one single layer with the nuts close together. Set aside.
• 5. PREPARE THE CHOCOLATE I used Plymouth Pantry Almond Bark, Chocolate Flavored.
• 6. Use 6 squares of the Almond Bark.
• 7. Chop the bark.
• 8. Melt the chocolate until it is smooth. It takes about ten minutes.
• 9. Pour the hot chocolate over the peanuts.
• 10. Use a cake frosting knife to smooth the chocolate evenly over the top of the peanuts. NOTE!!!! Adding an Update to the Recipe here: I add one more layer of nuts to the top, press down with your hands, cover and refrigerate until set. It makes it prettier and about a half inch thicker, and tastes really good with the extra nuts.
• 11. FREEZE IT Place the pan in the freezer for about 30 minutes to set.
• 12. Don't worry about how ugly it looks, because when it sets, the bottom becomes the top, and it will look pretty!
• 13. BREAK IT! Make sure the chocolate in the pan is firm. Lift the chocolate from the pan with the wax paper, and turn it over, then peel the wax paper away. Break the chocolate brittle into large pieces.
• 14. Enjoy! Store in the refrigerator in an air tight container.
• 15. Everyone loves chocolate!